Muslim-Christian Conflict Shuts Down Nigeria Churches

Reinhard Bonnke and the team at Christ for all Nations are welcomed by villagers in Wukari, Nigeria. Christian churches and worship centers in the central Nigerian town were shut down Sunday following religious riots. (CfaN)

Join us on our podcast each weekday for an interesting story, well told, from Charisma News. Listen at charismapodcastnetwork.com.

Christian churches and worship centers were completely shut down on Sunday in the central Nigerian town of Wukari following religious riots that broke out Saturday in the town between Muslims and Christians.

Security agencies report that so far 31 persons have been killed, while pastors in the town say dozens of houses of Christians were burnt, including that of the president of the Christian Reformed of Christ in Nigeria (CRCN), the Rev. Dr. Caleb Ahema.

Religious violence erupted in the town on Saturday when an argument broke out between a Muslim soccer fan and another Christian soccer fan in a playing field. Eyewitnesses say the Muslim retreated from the soccer pitch and went to his house and then returned to the field and shot the Christian. This killing of the Christian caused a fight in the soccer field and then spread to the rest of the town and villages.

As of Monday, when Charisma News established contacts with some pastors in Wukari, they said restriction of movement in the town has been enforced by Nigeria’s security agencies and that all residents have been confined to their homes.

“A 24-hours curfew is in place here and anyone who attempts to move out of his house is shot by military and police personnel,” the Rev. Patrick Achowura, the President of the Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria (PFN), Wukari Chapter told Charisma News via his mobile phone from Wukari.

The restriction of movement by security agents shut down all churches in the town on Sunday as worship services could not be held, Achowura told Charisma News. “Soldiers have been drafted to the town and a 24-hours curfew imposed. No movement is allowed so it is impossible to take inventory of churches destroyed by Muslims. Also, there were no worship services yesterday (Sunday) in all churches in the town and fighting continued throughout Sunday. But as of today (Monday), we have not heard gunshots,” Achowura said.

Narrating how the incident occurred, Achowura told Charisma Newsthat: “The crisis began when, on Saturday, a Muslim shot and killed a Christian on a football field. At the time of the attacks on Christians around 10 a.m., most Christians in the town were holding a conference at the worship auditorium of the Christian Reformed Church of Christ in Nigeria (CRCN). And so, Muslims in the town went on rampage without restriction to burn down houses and shops belonging to Christians.”

Joseph Zhema, another Christian resident of the town of Wukari, who also spoke to Charisma News from Wukari, said, “The crisis was ignited by an argument between two soccer fans, a Muslim and a Christian. The Muslim after the heated argument went to his house and brought a gun and killed the Christian youth, a member of the Reformed Church in this town.”

Zhema, a member of the Christian Reformed Church of Christ in Nigeria, said “the death of the Christian sparked a crisis that spread across town and in villages. Curfew is in place and it is difficult to say how many persons have been killed, but we heard that a number of those killed have been given mass burial by security agents.”

Zhema explained that they were in the church for a conference when the incident occurred, and that the home of the president of the Reformed Church, Rev. (Dr.) Caleb Ahema, and many other members of the church were burnt down by Muslims in Wukari.

Wukari is in the heart of the mission field of the Christian Reformed Church Missions, which planted the Christian Reformed Church of Christ in Nigeria in 1940 among the Jukun ethnic group. Today, the Reformed Church is the dominant feature of the Christian faith in Wukari and beyond.

3 Reasons Why you should read Life in the Spirit. 1) Get to know the Holy Spirit. 2) Learn to enter God's presence 3) Hear God's voice clearly! Go deeper!

Has God called you to be a leader? Ministry Today magazine is the source that Christian leaders who want to serve with passion and purpose turn to. Subscribe now and receive a free leadership book.

Your Turn

Please be considerate and respectful of your fellow posters. If Jesus and your mother would not approve of your writing, you should revise your comment before submitting.

Use standard writing style and punctuation. Complete sentences and proper grammar will help others understand you.

Do not use profanity, obscenities, abusive language or otherwise objectionable content (as determined by Charisma Media moderators, in their sole discretion). Comments should not harass, abuse or threaten another's personal safety or property, make false statements, defame or impersonate someone else.

Do not question others' faith just because you disagree with them. It adds nothing to the discussion and only causes strife.

Do not question why someone comes to this website just because they disagree with you or the content of the article.

Do not post personal information including phone numbers, email or mailing addresses, or credit card information belonging to you or others.

Do not include copyrighted content or other intellectual property that you do not own or have the explicit rights or lisenses to distribute.

Do not post, directly or through links, viruses, misleading, malicious or off-topic content.

Please consider the following statements pertaining to comments posted by you and other visitors to our website:

Appearance of comments, advertisements or hyperlinks made by other commenters on this site do not necessarily indicate or constitute acceptance of or endorsement of the products, companies, corporations, ministries, organizations or agencies in whole or in part by staff members and/or the members of the editorial board of Charisma Media.

Comments are not pre-screened before they post. Charisma Media reserves the right to modify or remove any comment that does not comply with the above guidelines and to deny access of your Disqus account to make additional comments to the website without any notice. If you have been denied access to comment due to a violation of these terms please do not create multiple accounts in an attempt to circumvent the system. The correct course of action is to request a review of your account status by contacting webmaster@charismamedia.com.

Charisma Media is not responsible or liable in any way for comments posted by its users.

If you believe a comment is in violation of the above guidelines, U.S. law or International treaties, or is legitimate "trolling" please flag the post or contact webmaster@charismamedia.com. Include a link to the comment, along with a statement explaining what you believe the violation is and any evidence backing your claim. Charisma Media moderators will consider your request and decide on the most appropriate action.